Tip of the week
The following is the tip of the week from the St. Augustine Humane Society.

How to deal with deadorant stains the right way
Dear Readers: Deodorant stains on white, cotton undershirts just seem to be inevitable. This is a major laundry question that has come to this column over and over for the past 45 years! But it does not have to be a problem. There are some easy things you can do to help.

News and notes: It's showtime!
Thursday program
At 7 p.m. Thursday the students at Beacon of Hope Christian School present "A Star is Born." All are invited to watch as the annual Christmas musical unravels.

News, notes from Downtown
St. Andrews Court Breakfast Club gathered at the west end of tiny St. Andrews Court outside the home of Darby and Dick B

Spices and herbs invoke the holidays
I love to use spices and herbs during the holidays. The aroma and taste of certain seasonings remind me of Christmas. If you are not familiar with seasonings, here are some that are frequently used during the holidays:

Soup recipe that's great for chicken or shrimp
Some soups make a meal, and this one certainly qualifies. You may substitute shrimp for the chicken in the soup if you want to try something different, but it's still a substantial dish.

'Tis the season for eggnog
Eggnog is frequently used as a toast to one's health, especially during the holidays. First mentioned in the early 19th century, eggnog seems to have been popular on both sides of the Atlantic by that time.

Dr. Donohue: New drugs for hepatitis B
DEAR DR. DONOHUE: Please write something about hepatitis B. One of my best friends has it, and the doctor did not tell her to rest. She is pitiful-looking. I have been told it is the worst kind of hepatitis you can have. At one time she was as yellow as a pumpkin. -- A.L.

House OKs renewal of expiring parts of Patriot Act
WASHINGTON -- The House voted to renew a modified USA Patriot Act to combat terrorism on Wednesday and sent the bill to the Senate, where opponents pledged a last-ditch fight against provisions they said would curtail individual liberties.

CDC: Flu killed children rapidly in 2003-04 season
One-third of the 153 American children killed by the flu during the 2003-04 season were dead within three days of getting sick, and many of the youngsters were perfectly healthy before they were stricken, government researchers reported.

House backs ban onmistreating suspects
WASHINGTON -- In a symbolic move, the House endorsed a Senate-passed ban on cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment of foreign terrorism suspects Wednesday as negotiations between the White House and Sen. John McCain over the provision appeared at an impasse.

Toy site lets parents, kids swap neglected playthings
ORLAND PARK, Ill. -- Eight-year-old Jacob Maxia may know more about monster models than business models, but he knows what he likes. And a new online toy exchange that brings him giant mutant beasts in return for his unwanted playthings seems pretty darn awesome.

Katrina inquiry mulls subpoenas, evacuation plans
WASHINGTON (AP) -- A House committee investigating the government's response to Hurricane Katrina issued a subpoena Wednesday to force Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld to turn over documents but stopped short of sending a similar legal demand to the White House.

Scientists transplant human stem cells into animal brains
MILWAUKEE -- Human stem cells genetically engineered to produce a substance that some hope will protect the brains of Parkinson's patients were transplanted into the brains of monkeys and rats by University of Wisconsin-Madison scientists.

Crips co-founder is executed in Calif.
SAN QUENTIN, Calif. -- Stanley Tookie Williams, whose self-described evolution from gang thug to antiviolence crusader won him an international following and nominations for a Nobel Peace Prize, was executed by lethal injection early Tuesday, hours after Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger refused to spare his life. His death was announced at 12:35 a.m.

Bush administration pushes back on Patriot Act
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The fight over renewing the USA Patriot Act escalated Tuesday, with the Bush administration saying the nation's security depends on congressional approval before year's end and the Senate's top Democrat joining an effort to block passage.

School officials reconsidering NW school site
Even though St. Johns County school officials have been negotiating for months for a 30-acre site along State Road A1A to build a new Ponte Vedra Beach high school, they disclosed this week they're also reconsidering a 75-acre site just west of the Intracoastal Waterway.

Northwest schools rezoning delayed
The rezoning of Northwest St. Johns County schools will be delayed one year, Superintendent of Schools Joseph Joyner announced at the School Board meeting Tuesday.

Gators get Tim Tebow
Once again, Tim Tebow made the Nease crowd scream.
But on Tuesday, all of the Gator Nation could holler right along.

SAHS to hold football celebration
A community-wide celebration for St. Augustine High School's Class 3A state championship football team is scheduled at the school on Friday.

Police Report
The following was compiled from police reports collected from the St. Johns County Sheriff's Office (SJCSO), St. Augustine Police Department (SAPD) and St. Augustine Beach Police Department (SABPD) and Florida Highway Patrol (FHP)

Clarifications
Wrong impression -- The front page story Tuesday on St. Augustine City Commissioners agreeing to pay for a public information campaign to explain the city's new parking policies gave the incorrect impression of some downtown merchants' views.

Public responds to Northwest school rezoning
Here's a sampling of letters sent to the School District from parents complaining about the Northwest rezoning plan. Superintendent of Schools Joseph Joyner said Tuesday that the rezoning will be delayed a year for more study.

Police Report: Police seeking suspect in stabbing
A victim told police he was in a verbal dispute in the 800 block of Duval Street on Monday evening when a suspect stabbed him in the hip area, according to the St. Johns County Sheriff's Office. The victim drove himself to the emergency room at Flagler Hospital, police said.

Shrimp boat runs aground on beach
An 80-foot shrimp boat from Fernandina Beach is stuck on the sand near south Ponte Vedra Beach and may be there for the next few weeks.

Trash pickup may cost more next year
The spiraling cost of diesel fuel means St. Johns County must pay $522,000 extra to two trash collection companies -- and homeowners will probably be faced with higher trash bills next year.

Anita C. Grubb
Anita C. Grubb, 73, of St. Augustine, died Dec. 12, 2005, at the Earl B. Hadlow Center in Jacksonville. Mrs. Grubb was a native of Lewiston, Maine, where she was a graduate of Lewiston High School. She attended Auburn (Maine) Business College and worked as a secretary for the commanding officer of Brunswick Naval Air Station before transferring to Quonset Point, R.I. She had resided in St. Augustine since 1973.

Elmer Cale Kenneth Chivers
Elmer Cale Kenneth Chivers, 86, of St. Augustine, died Dec. 13, 2005, at his home. Mr. Chivers was a native of Ontario, Canada and had lived in St. Augustine for some time. Mr. Chivers served in the Royal Canadian Air Force attached to the Royal Air Force during the Second World War. Chivers worked in marketing and he was a member of the Trinity Episcopal Church.

Richard Allen Waldron
Richard Allen Waldron, 54, of St. Augustine Beach, died Dec. 10, 2005, at his home. Mr. Waldron was a native of Murfreesboro, Tenn., and had resided in St. Augustine for the past 18 years. Mr. Waldron was a pharmacist at Walgreens and a member of the American Bamboo Society.

Helen K. Miller
Helen K. Miller, 95, was born in Rochester, N.Y., where she lived most of her life. She died Dec. 10, 2005, in St. Augustine, where she has lived with her family for the past 22 years. Helen pursued a musical career at an early age as a student in the preparatory department of the University of Rochester's Eastman School of Music. She gave concerts often in the School's Kilbourn Hall and performed with her younger sister on early-radio shows in Rochester. After graduating from the university in 1931, Helen elected to pursue her career by giving private music lessons to both children and adults. Marrying in 1934, she continued to teach in her home studio, while raising her family during the late 1940s and 50s. Helen also participated in the music program of the Rochester Public School system during the 1960s, retiring in 1973. After moving to St. Augustine, she operated North Country Antiques in the Lightner Antique Mall for many years.

Harry O. Olsen
Harry O. Olsen, 80, St. Augustine, died Dec. 9, 2005, at Flagler Hospital He was born in Brooklyn, N.Y., and had resided in St. Augustine since 1986, moving here from Copiague, N.Y. He was retired from New York Telephone Company, where he had worked as a switchman. He was a veteran of the U.S. Navy, having served during World War II and Korea, and he was a member of Christ Our Savior Lutheran Church.

India Reynolds Frei
India Reynolds Frei of St. Augustine, died Dec. 13, 2005, peacefully at her home surrounded by family and friends. Mrs. Frei was born in Raleigh, N.C., and had resided in St. Augustine since 1956. She was a graduate of St. Joseph's Academy. India was a successful real estate broker and volunteered as a Victim Advocate at the St. Augustine Police Department.

Ken Chivers
Ken Chivers, 86, died Dec. 13, 2005, at his home in St. Augustine. Ken was born in Sarnia, Ontario, Canada on Nov. 15, 1919. He proudly served in the Royal Canadian Air Force, attached to the Royal Air Force in Europe and North Africa during World War II, where he flew the "Mosquito"on many missions, earning the Operational Wings of the RCAF. After the war, Ken's career in sales and marketing brought him and his wife, Charlotte, to the United States, where they raised their three children: Ken, Ann and Julie. The family lived in San Francisco, Long Island, and Miami. In each place Ken touched the lives of others through his loyal participation in church ministries.

Alfred Finelli
Alfred "Al" Finelli, 85, of St. Augustine, died Dec. 12, 2005, at Moultrie Creek Nursing and Rehabilitation Center. Mr. Finelli was born in Bronx, N.Y., and had resided in St. Augustine since 1989, moving here from Massapequa, Long Island, N.Y. Finelli attended New York University, where he played on the baseball team and had worked as a sound effects on video technician for NBC in New York for 31 years, a member of the Shores Golf Club, Men's Golf Association, Northeast Florida Senior Golf Association and the Navy League.

Letter: Catch-22 downtown
Editor: First someone writes to complain about too many Flagler students downtown. Then, someone ineffectively comes to the aid of the students by proposing there are too many tourists downtown.

Editorial: Jax figures out how to make development OK
Allow us to flip a well-known phrase for just a moment: "Development is the mother of invention" -- or so it seems in our region. If we've learned one thing about local growth issues it is that our county neither creates nor suffers them in a vacuum.

Perspective: Bush turns the tables on the Democrats
Bill Clinton frustrated Republican critics. He passed welfare reform, waged a preemptive war against Slobodan Milosevic without either the approval of the Congress or the United Nations, and reined in federal spending. And so anguished conservatives had a hard time proving that, despite these accomplishments, he was a tax-and-spend bleeding heart.

Letter: Response and rescue was first-class; thanks
Editor: (An open letter to the county emergency medical service and city fire and police departments). On Dec. 2, your staff rendered the most "outstanding'' service to those of us who were guests for the outside wedding, held at the home of Mrs. Murray Lou Barrett, 275 South Matanzas Blvd. As quoted in The St. Augustine Record "Dock collapses after wedding.''

Letter: Seat belt extortion?
Editor: In regard to a Nov. 30 letter titled "Buckling up and federal extortion", " I find it difficult to believe that any clear-thinking person could make the statement that "there is absolutely no proof whatsoever that seatbelt use reduces fatalities,'' with the accompanying comments on "driver harassment campaign'' and "highway robbery'' and that "the only reason that seatbelt laws were passed at all was due to federal extortion.''

Letter: The darker side of Ringling circus
Editor: Perhaps people who arrange public relations and sell tickets to the Ringling Brothers circus are unaware of the facts of circus abuse, in which Ringling Brothers is one of the lead players.

Letter: What do the toys we buy teach our kids?
Editor: Is there a connection between violent movies and militarism? I think there is. And I think violent video games hard-wire young people for shooting at humans. The entertainment industry conditions the young in exactly the same way the military does.

School Board Letters
We ive in Whitelock Farms. We are a small community (less then 110 homeowners in our subdivision and its related areas, Countryside, Equestrian Way and Breakaway Trails. We are also located directly around the corner from Timberlin Creek.

School Board Letters
We live in Heritage Landing and currently have a 7th grader. Would she attend SPMS next year and be provided bus transportation for either #1 and/or #2? The proposal states "new students".

School Board Letters
We currently reside in South Hampton. We are parents to a third grader that attends Timberlin Creek.

White Sox agree to deal, landing Vazquez
CHICAGO -- General manager Ken Williams' goal even before the Chicago White Sox won their first World Series in 88 years was to make the team a perennial contender, not a one-year wonder.

Local NAACP head stands by criticism of McNabb
PHILADELPHIA -- Donovan McNabb is still taking shots -- the latest from an NAACP leader who criticized the quarterback's leadership skills and said he "played the race card" in explaining why he no longer runs the ball.

Local Roundup
St. Augustine High's girls basketball team got a big win over rival Nease on Tuesday.

Free agent pitchers are a happy group
Baseball players who met last week to discuss union matters at a pricey resort outside of Las Vegas had good reason to be happy. The weather was good, there was a golf course just outside the front door, and there wasn't an autograph seeker in sight.

Brittish glam band takes listeners on hard rock journey
The band "The Darkness" is back and ready to rock your socks off! That's right, the self-proclaimed "best band in the world," the Darkness, has unleashed their sophomore album appropriately titled "One Way Ticket to Hell...And Back" (Atlantic, 2005). The album is largely autobiographical of front man Justin Hawkins's personal struggle with drugs, and relationships.

Investigator says CIA shipped prisoners to North Africa
PARIS -- A European investigator said Tuesday he has found mounting indications the United States illegally held detainees in Europe but then hurriedly shipped out the last ones to North Africa a month ago when word leaked out.

Little violence on eve of Iraq's election
BAGHDAD, Iraq -- Iraq's most competitive election campaign in decades came to a conclusion Wednesday without major bloodshed, but sectarian tensions continued to flare in several cities on the eve of the vote for a new parliament.

Four soldiers, candidate killed in Iraq
BAGHDAD, Iraq -- Three of Iraq's leading politicians agreed Tuesday that a speedy withdrawal by foreign troops before Iraqi forces are ready would cause chaos, ahead of parliamentary elections the United States hopes will let it begin bringing its soldiers home.